Power driven auger attachment for snowmobiles

ABSTRACT

An ice auger is driven from the power train of a snowmobile through the instrumentality of an auger drive wheel which is rotatably mounted in a drive wheel mounting bracket and forced down against the inside of the bottom run of the snowmobile drive track. The drive between the drive wheel and the auger is accomplished using two universal joints with a telescoping drive shaft in between them. The mounting bracket pivots off of the underside of the snowmobile to force the drive wheel against the drive track and is held in place by an integral tensioning arm fastened to the snowmobile frame.

United States Patent [191 Rusco [451 May 8, 1973 54] POWER DRIVEN AUGER 2,793,512 5 1957 Larsen ..64/3 x ATTACHMENT FOR SNOWMOBILES 3,602,321 8/1971 Kortschaga... ..175/ 18 [76] Inventor: Harvey H. Rusco, R0 Box 345 3,662,844 5/1972 Baker ..l75/18 Schroeder 55613 Primary ExaminerErnest R. Purser [22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1971 AttorneyBurd et a1.

App]. No.: 184,546

Related U.S. Application Data [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,533,957 12/1950 Roelfs 1173/26 [57] ABSTRACT An ice auger is driven from the power train of a snowmobile through the instrumentality of an auger drive wheel which is rotatably mounted in a drive wheel mounting bracket and forced down against the inside of the bottom run of the snowmobile drive track. The drive between the drive wheel and the auger is accomplished using two universal joints with a telescoping drive shaft in between them. The mounting bracket pivots off of the underside of the snowmobile to force the drive wheel against the drive track and is held in place by an integral tensioning arm fastened to the snowmobile frame.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Pat ented May 8, 1973 3,731,751

2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. HARVEY H. RUSCO ATTORNEYS Patented May 8, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HARVEY H. RUSCO MW in;

ATTORNEYS POWER DRIVEN AUGER ATTACHMENT FOR SNOWMOBILES This is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 138,993, filed Apr. 30, 1971 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to power driven augers designed primarily to bore holes in ice for use, for example, in ice fishing. The invention also has relation to a readily installed and easily removable power take-off from the drive train of a snowmobile.

It is known to use a flexible drive shaft in a flexible casing to drive an auger or other drilling equipment. See U. S. Pat. Nos. 1,690,085; 1,572,067; and 2,576,199. Such equipment has been, however, too cumbersome to be of any value whatever in boring holes in ice at a remote location suitable for indulging in the sport of ice fishing.

Many augers and power drives have been suggested for drilling holes in ice. See, for example, U. S. Pat. No. 2,982,364. Such apparatus has envisioned the use of many kinds of power sources for rotating of the ice drilling or boring auger. For example, a sled mounted gasoline engine is suggested in the foregoing patent. The sled must be hand towed to the location for use, however.

Automobile starter motors have been mounted for direct drive on auger shafts, and gasoline engines have even been so mounted. Apparatus calling for a heavy motor or engine on top of the auger have proved to be inordinately dangerous and virtually unmanageable when any substantial amount of power is applied in severely cold weather conditions because of the top heavy nature of the apparatus and the necessarily erratic performance of the auger as it moves through voids and ice of different densities.

Structure not substantially fully encased will build up with ice in the extreme cold andbecome inoperative. Structure requiring manipulation by hand without mittens is not usable at below zero temperature.

Another disadvantage to the power driven auger of the prior art is that a large amount of equipment and a large amount of money must be tied up in any such apparatus which can have use only for the sole purpose of cutting and reopening one hole through the ice each day during the ice fishing season. Because of the discomfort, awkwardness, danger, and expense involved, power driven ice auger s of the prior art have not proved satisfactory or widely acceptable.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The power driven auger apparatus of the present invention obviates the difficulties with the augers of the prior art by utilizing as a power source a machine which is ideally suited for transporting the ice fisherman to the site of the ice fishing. Thus, owners of snowmobiles can utilize the relatively lightweight, relatively inexpensive and compact apparatus which includes a drive wheel mounting bracket, a drive wheel rotatably mounted therein, two universal joints, a telescoping drive shaft between these joints and an ice auger driven from the second universal joint. A bracket mounted tensioning arm and a fastener at the outer end of that arm are utilized to force the mounting bracket to position to cause the drive wheel to come into driving relationship with the inner surface of the flexible drive track of the snowmobile after the snowmobile has been placed on jacks to remove this track from driving relationship with the snow and ice thereunder. The first universal joint drivingly connects the axle of the drive wheel and the telescoping drive shaft. A telescoping protective casing completely encompasses the drive shaft and a second casing encompasses the upper portion of the auger shaft. These casings are each attached to a pivoted housing which supports for the second universal joint. Operating handles extend outwardly from the second casing to allow the operator to apply downward force on the auger and to maintain the auger in an upright position during the time that the hole is being bored or drilled.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the invention showing its relationship to a snowmobile which has been jacked up to remove the drive track thereof from the ground;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the snowmobile of FIG. 1 showing the relationship of a drive wheel and its mounting bracket to the frame of a snowmobile when installed thereon;

FIG. 3 is a transverse, fragmentary, vertical sectional view of the snowmobile of FIG. 2 showing the relationship of the drive wheel thereto, the view also including a transverse sectional view of the telescoping drive shaft and an elevational view of an ice auger approximately as the parts would appear had the auger been used to drill a hole clear down through extremely thick ice;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view taken directly above the auger in FIG. 1 and showing a second universal joint.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the second universal joint as seen in FIG. 4 with parts in section and parts broken away; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view of a drive wheel, a first universal joint and a fragment of the drive shaft of the device showing a modification of the mounting bracket for mounting of the device on a snowmobile having a different underside configuration.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the form of the invention as disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 5, a power driven ice auger apparatus 10 is shown in operative driven relationship with respect to a snowmobile 12. In order to drive the auger without moving from its fixed location, the snowmobile is shown as being supported on a permanent pivotally mounted jack stand 14, although it is to be understood that any suitable means could be used for lifting the rear and/or other portions of the snowmobile from the ground sufficiently to bring the snowmobile drive track into clearing relationship thereto.

As perhaps best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, an auger drive wheel 16 is rotatably mounted in a drive wheel mounting bracket 18. This bracket is provided with parallel side plates 20,20 which rotatably support axle 22 of the drive wheel. Upper ends of these side plates are provided with seats 24 which receive any suitable transverse spacer bar 26 in the frame of the snowmobile.

A bracket arm 28 extends outwardly from the bracket as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, and a spring loaded hook shaped fastening device 30 on the outer end of the arm 28 serves to temporarily fixedly position the arm of the support bracket and the drive wheel after the arm has been moved upwardly in a counterclockwise fashion as seen in FIG. 2 to cause the drive wheel to force itself down upon flexible snowmobile drive track 32 sufficiently to insure that there is a driving relationship between this track and the drive wheel.

The outer end of the axle 22 of the drive wheel 16 terminates in one-half of a first universal joint 34 and the second end of this joint is integral with a telescoping drive shaft 36. This drive shaft, as shown, includes a plurality of telescopically associated square sections 38.

Drive shaft 36 is substantially completely encompassed by telescoping first casing 40 which is constituted as a plurality of telescopically related cylindrical sleeves 42. The outer most sleeve is integral with a bearing housing 44 which rotatably supports a first gear 40 of two intermeshed gears forming part of second differential 48. A second bearing housing 50 is pivotally mounted to the housing 44 and supports the second gear 52 of the intermeshed gears forming this second universal joint. The two pivoted housings 44 and 50 serve to keep the two intermeshed gears in operative relationship. This structure is old in other apparatus.

A second cylindrical casing 54 is integrally connected with second bearing housing 50 and extends downwardly therefrom to enclose the upper portion of an auger shaft 56 which is drivingly connected to and extends integrally from second gear 52 of the universal joint 48. This auger shaft 56 has pinned to it, as shown in FIG. 3, an auger shaft extension 58 to which is pinned the auger 60 having flutes 62 and a hollow auger shank 64 for telescopically receiving the auger shaft extension 58.

A pair of handles 66, 66 extend transversely outwardly from second cylindrical casing 54. A collar 68, integral with the auger shaft 56, is in contact with the bottom of the second casing 54 so that force in downward direction imparted on the handles 66,66 will be transmitted to the rotating auger, thus to allow auger teeth 70 to chip the ice and to cause these chips to pass up through the opening 72 in auger plate 74 to be carried by the flutes 62 to the top of the ice hole.

IN OPERATION In operation, the parts are assembled as seen in FIG. 1, and the auger is manually positioned in perpendicular relationship to the ice surface which is to be cut. The snowmobile is jacked up to remove its drive track from the ice and is activated to drive the flexible drive track, and this will cause the auger 60 to rotate. Pressure is exerted on the handles 66, 66, and as the auger goes into the ice, the telescoping drive shaft will automatically shorten to allow the perpendicular position to be maintained.

Should the ice prove to be exceedingly deep, the process can be stopped, and the auger shaft extension 58, missing from FIG. 1, can be pinned into place as seen in FIG. 3.

When the hole has been completed down to the water underneath, the snowmobile is deactivated, the

auger is removed from the hole, the fastening means 30 is unhooked from the frame of the snowmobile to allow the drive wheel support bracket 18 and the auger drive wheel 16 to be removed from the belt. The drive shaft can be completely telescoped to greatly shorten it, and the auger shaft extension and the auger can be separately removed so that the entire apparatus can be placed in a relatively small area for storage aboard the snowmobile for the journey home after the ice fishing has been completed.

It is to be noted, as clearly seen in FIG. 2, that a series of fastening holes 76 are provided in one of the bracket side plate 20 so that the angular relationship of the bracket tensioning arm 28 to the bracket 18 can be readily changed. This allows the apparatus to be readily adapted to fit substantially all of the snowmobiles on the market as of the time of the writing of this specification.

In addition to allowing placement of the auger at any desired location over a wide area with respect to the snowmobile, and in addition to allowing the auger to be maintained vertical during boring, the telescoping drive shaft provides a further advantage. Any drive train used in the ice fishing environment with splash from the fishing hole, alternate thawing and freezing, snow and/or sleet, and, hopefully, water from flopping fish being taken from the hole, will tend tofreeze solid between periods of use. A flexible drive cable in a flexible conduit may have to be thawed its entire length to become usable. The telescoping drive shaft and casing can be freed, however, merely by driving or otherwise forcing the telescoping parts to their completely telescoped length to crack any ice formation between the square drive shaft and cylindrical casing. The drive can then be elongated as desired and used as intended.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there are snowmobiles where a horizontal bar 78 runs just above and parallel to the interior of the snowmobile track 32. In this situation, rather than pivot the bracket from upper side plate seats 24, a .I-shaped support 80 is bolted to the inner side plate 20, and this support, in contact with the bar 78, forms the support bracket 18 to cause the auger drive wheel 16 to move into frictional driving relationship to snowmobile drive track 32.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Power take-off means for detachable mounting on a vehicle having a frame and a powered, flexible, normally ground engaging endless track supported below said frame, said means including a drive wheel having an axle; a drive wheel mounting bracket rotatably supporting the drive wheel to extend below said bracket; means for detachable pivotally connecting a portion of said bracket to the frame of said vehicle; a tensioning arm on said bracket operable to rotate said bracket drive wheel axle through a first universal joint; an auger including an auger shaft and ice working elements integral with said shaft; and a second universal joint drivably associating said drive shaft and said auger shaft.

3. Combination of claim 2 wherein said drive shaft is of a telescoping nature and consists of a plurality of telescopically associated, nested, noncircular drive shaft sections.

4. Combination of claim 3 wherein said drive shaft is substantially completely encased in a telescoping drive casing consisting of a plurality of telescopically associated, nested, casing sections encompassing and spaced from said drive shaft.

5. Combination of claim 4 wherein said second universal joint includes first and second intermeshing pinion gears; an auger shaft casing in encompassing, spaced relation to an upper part of said auger shaft; a first bearing housing integral with an outer end of said drive casing and encompassing a first of said intermeshing gears; and a second bearing housing pivoted to said first housing and integral with an upper end of said auger shaft casing and encompassing a second of said intermeshing gears.

6. Combination of claim 5 and handles integral with and extending outwardly from sad auger shaft casing. 

1. Power take-off means for detachable mounting on a vehicle having a frame and a powered, flexible, normally ground engaging endless track supported below said frame, said means including a drive wheel having an axle; a drive wheel mounting bracket rotatably supporting the drive wheel to extend below said bracket; means for detachable pivotally connecting a portion of said bracket to the frame of said vehicle; a tensioning arm on said bracket operable to rotate said bracket about said pivot connection to cause said wheel to be forced into drivable relationship with an inside surface of said track, releasable means for fixedly positioning said arm with respect to said frame to maintain the wheel-track driving relationship; and a drive shaft operably connected to said drive wheel axle and extending to a location for use of power.
 2. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein an inner end of said drive shaft is connected to said drive wheel axle through a first universal joint; an auger including an auger shaft and ice working elements integral with said shaft; and a second universal joint drivably associating said drive shaft and said auger shaft.
 3. Combination of claim 2 wherein said drive shaft is of a telescoping nature and consists of a plurality of telescopically associated, nested, noncircular drive shaft sections.
 4. Combination of claim 3 wherein said drive shaft is substantially completely encased in a telescoping drive casing consisting of a plurality of telescopically associated, nested, casing sections encompassing and spaced from said drive shaft.
 5. Combination of claim 4 wherein said second universal joint includes first and second intermeshing pinion gears; an auger shaft casing in encompassing, spaced relation to an upper part of said auger shaft; a first bearing housing integral with an outer end of said drive casing and encompassing a first of said intermeshing gears; and a second bearing housing pivoted to said first housing and integral with an upper end of said auger shaft casing and encompassing a second of said intermeshing gears.
 6. Combination of claim 5 and handles integral with and extending outwardly from sad auger shaft casing. 